Quotables, cont.

Fenner, age 15:

“I hate when my friends get whatever they want from their parents. To spend my money I know I have to really want it. If I don’t really want it I don’t get it. My friends don’t take care of their things because their parents will just buy them another one. I’m really thankful when you buy me things because it hardly ever happens! And when their parents pay for birthday presents, I’m like, ‘So your mom paid for that?’ And it doesn’t mean as much. I spend my own money on my friends.”

Ellen, age 12:

“Mom, yesterday my friend was like, ‘You mean your mom doesn’t make your lunch?!’

‘No.’

‘She doesn’t pack your bag?!’

‘No.’

‘She doesn’t wake you up in the morning?!’

‘No.’

‘She doesn’t make you breakfast?!’

‘No.’

‘She doesn’t care what you wear?!’

‘No.’”

Me: “Do you envy her that her mom does all that?”

“No! It feels like her mom’s all in her business!”

Charlotte, age 10:

“Some parents don’t let little kids, like me, use sharp knives, or the oven, or the microwave. You know what that’s like? That’s like saying your kid doesn’t have a brain.”